Centrica signs £4.4bn, four-and-a-half year deal to import liquefied natural
gas to the UK from Qatar.

British Gas owner Centrica has signed a £4.4bn, four-and-a-half year deal to bring Qatari gas to the UK, that could see it import enough gas to meet the needs of 3m households.

The contract will see Centrica buy up to 3m tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year from June 2014, when an existing import deal with the Gulf state expires.

The deal could scupper Boris Johnson's plans for a Thames Estuary Airport. The gas will be taken to a terminal on the Isle of Grain that the London Mayor needs to demolish in order to build his four-runway airport.

The actual volumes of gas that ultimately are delivered under the deal could be much lower, however, as Qatar retains the right to sell a proportion of the cargoes for higher prices elsewhere in the world instead, subject to a diversion fee.

“Not all of the gas is committed; some of it is divertable,” Nick Luff, Centrica’s finance director, said. “The Qataris do retain the ability to sell at least some of this gas to higher-priced markets, if they are there for them.”

The pricing of the cargoes is understood to be linked to the UK’s gas market, as with the existing deal, rather than the international oil price.

The existing Centrica-Qatar deal, brokered by David Cameron in 2011, was for 2.4m tonnes per year, however only about half of that amount was ultimately delivered as the Fukushima disaster triggered nuclear shutdown and high gas prices in Asia, leading gas cargoes to be sold there instead.

Britain is increasingly reliant on imports of LNG – gas cooled to minus 162 degrees for transport by tanker – as North Sea reserves dwindle.

Qatar currently supplies about 15pc of Britain’s gas and was the source of 98pc of Britain’s LNG cargoes last year.

Mr Fallon signed a joint communique on energy with Qatar’s minister of energy and industry, Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, in which they “encouraged exploring further opportunities for investment in energy projects”.

Qatar has previously indicated it is interested in investing up to £10bn in UK infrastructure projects.

Centrica established a strategic partnership with Qatargas in the wake of the original Qatar LNG import deal. It has since made joint acquisitions in the US and is looking at further deals with Qatar in the US market.

Centrica chief executive, Sam Laidlaw said: “We are delighted that we continue to deepen our relationship with Qatargas and continue to build our LNG business by integrating our positions along the gas value chain.

“It is vital that the UK has a diverse range of sources of supply to meet its energy requirements. In a competitive international market, contracts like this underpin the UK’s access to global LNG supplies for the benefit of customers.”